


the last wish i lay on your bones

by SparklingFox



Category: One Piece
Genre: M/M, author has no idea anymore, sorta - Freeform, the out of control drabble where Zoro is a spirit of vengeance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-25
Updated: 2018-01-25
Packaged: 2019-03-09 06:01:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13475205
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SparklingFox/pseuds/SparklingFox
Summary: There are unfathomable depths to the ocean and he is sinking towards the light beyond it.





	the last wish i lay on your bones

A sudden raging storm blew them way off-course, enough to have Nami pour over her maps as she tries to figure out the area they were drifting across. She commented afterwards on how unnatural the fluctuation of the weather was, an occurrence they more or less expected in the New World, but her words made everyone slightly on edge, especially in their current location. Beside her Robin was leafing through several historical texts while simultaneously making notes with an extra hand on a piece of parchment. They murmur theories and guesses, the tea Sanji laid down some time ago cooling in porcelain cups.

While the two of them were conducting their research the rest of the Strawhats were up to their usual antics. In this case a frantic Usopp and Chopper trying to hold back and eager and most importantly, a bored Luffy from going overboard.

“But it looks like glass!”

“The Sunny is floating on something! It can’t be glass!”

Their captain releases a long whine as he deflates in Chopper’s bear-hug of a hold before he perks up almost instantaneously when Brook twirls around and proclaims he will craft a song for this discovery. Franky lets out a booming laugh and converses with them about his own theories while Zoro sat atop the roof of the crow’s nest. The swordsman slowly opens his eye and scans the same odd horizon. A vast body of water, frozen like a picture. Winds whipped against their sails and pushed the Sunny forward but not even a ripple was present over the sea itself.

He sees Luffy wiggling out of Chopper’s grip with a dexterity and flexibility that was unnatural by any normal, human means, before the captain grips onto the mast and launches himself up. Elastic arms wrap around him and Zoro braces for impact a heartbeat before the idiot crashes into his lap. Instinctively he wraps his own arms around Luffy to prevent any falls, spluttering and yelling half-formed words before finally settling on a growl as a reply to his captain’s boisterous, shameless laugh.

“I was still sleeping.”

“Liar.” Luffy pokes out his tongue before rubbing their foreheads affectionately and scampers around so he’s sitting in his lap.

Utterly helpless in the face of such a sweet display Zoro only huffs and cradles Luffy closer, resting his chin on the captain’s head as he shifts around on his lap for a minute or two before settling down comfortably.

“This place is cool. Hey Zoro, do you think there’s any fish under there?” He picks at his nose as he spoke, flicking a booger into the air.

“Probably, you guys could see if you can catch one," he says, tracing his thumb over Luffy’s stomach and grins when Luffy let's out a bout of giggles, whispering _that tickles_.

Instead of jumping off to that task Luffy simply settles deeper into his embrace and lets out another breathy laugh. He pulls off the hat hanging off his neck and plops it over Zoro’s head, “I’ll nap with Zoro first.”

“As you wish captain,” he murmurs, leaning them back and lets Luffy’s head rest on his chest. He slings one arm protectively over the smaller man’s body and relaxes, content and warm. Luffy’s limbs eventually end up wrapping all around them as they doze through the day, lulled by the breeze, the warm sun, and the sounds of the crew below.

~*~

A few hours later the sound of thunder crashes through the clear blue skies before a series of loud sorrow filled cries, akin to whale song, fills the air. The Strawhat pirates still couldn't see under the reflective and frozen waters but Zoro felt something gigantic move under them.

Chopper ran into the kitchen as soon as the cries began, covering his ears with his tiny hooves as he hid, shaking like a leaf.

“Oi, what’s wrong Chopper?” Curly brow asks with a note of concern, putting aside dinner and kneeling down in front of their frightened doctor, gentle hands soothingly stroking his back.

“They sound so sad and angry. They keep crying out for someone.” The little reindeer sniffles and presses his face against Sanji’s legs.

“We’ll be getting out of here soon enough. Would you like some warm milk?”

There were too many variables for them to be safe here anymore, on edge and without any clue about what was going on they prepared for a Coup the Burst. As Franky and Usopp bustles around Zoro spots Luffy, who looks oddly contemplative and still as he perched on the railings on the port side of the ship. Eyes narrow and full of focus as he stared down, down into the unmoving depths.

Uncertainty pricks at Zoro, raising goosebumps along his skin as he watches his captain stand up smoothly, still gazing down before he looks over and locks eye contact.

“Trust me, alright?”

Before he could say anything Luffy, with his signature grin that rivaled the sun and then some, leaps into the air before diving in, not leaving even a whisper of a ripple as he disappears. Heart lurching in his throat Zoro doesn’t even hesitate, doesn’t even think as he sprints over and immediately jumps in after him, body moving on instinct as the cold water rushes around him.

It was not often Zoro felt fear, possibly never. His faith in himself, his friends, and his captain is iron strong and unbending. Yet here, in this moment, in the depths of this unknown sea he feels a feeling akin to dread ever so slowly crawl up his spine. The sun was still up, hours before dusk, but as he moves his arms around him and kick his legs to swim further down, he saw nothing but darkness, a complete an absolute void. He blinks his eye open many times but the waters stays the same.

With nothing but his instincts to guide him Zoro swam, willing his body to be faster and faster as he followed Luffy’s presence. Every second spent down here made him more desperate to reach that idiot and pull him out of here as the unmistakable sensation of many, many eyes pierce his back. He kept swimming, feeling as he were moving through tar, as if it took him hours instead of seconds to make any progress until he finally sees a faint blue light glowing below him.

In the faint illumination he sees a glimpse of Luffy _swimming_ , rather stiffly and unpracticed, but doing it nonetheless towards the glowing light source. Heart skipping a beat Zoro swims towards him, closing the distance with powerful strokes. An arm's length -a mile- away Luffy stops and floats in front of a cluster of crystal like structures that were the source of the glowing light. For a brief second he sees something move in the peripheral of his vision, like the flutter of a curtain in a darkened room. Ignoring it for the moment he dives towards his captain, lungs beginning to burn.

He sees Luffy raise his arm and barely touch the crystal before flinching back. The glow brightens immediately and starts a chain-reaction that lights up countless of those crystal scattered across the sea floor, each emitting a unique pulsing glow and winking into existence like brilliant stars across the night sky. As the glow spread and illuminated the world around them Zoro felt his blood run cold at what he saw.

~*~

Sanji immediately dove in after their captain and the stupid marimo but quickly resurfaces from the sheer darkness of the water below. Cursing up a storm he yells up at the rest of his friends about the discovery. Frankly swiftly runs to prepare the submarine and as Sanji’s swimming back to the Sunny he catches the shocked, almost horrified expression on Robin’s face up on deck.

One graceful hand was covering her mouth, eyes wide as she stared out at the sea. The cacophonous whale song that had been a overpowering constant suddenly stops.  

“This is the Sea of Calamity.”

  
Usopp screeches at her words, “Wha-what’s with that ominous name?!”

“Sailors rarely speak of this place. With whispers each curse the creatures of ill-omen that inhabit it.”

Sanji feels something surging beneath the waters as he climbs up the ladder, tightening his grip on the rungs he looks behind and feels his jaw hit the ocean floor. The surface of the sea was warping, like someone was bending and warping a sheet of steel. It stretches down, as if pulled by some force, and the mournful song returns, echoing impossibly louder.

The surface finally broke like a balloon, shattering open as a massive inky black form leap up into the air. It was large enough to blot out the sky and sun with its sheer size as it hung suspended for long moments. A calamity taken shape as it slowly turns its body, black water dripping from its many fins with teeth glinting like diamonds. It cries out sharply, glass panels shattering from the force of it, before it curves its body and dives back in. Like all other instances no ripple of splash was present as the water snaps back into the original mirror-like appearance.

“It’s a leviathans graveyard.”

Over the din of the whale song he could hear Robin’s hushed words clear as day.

~*~

Zoro reaches down and grabs Luffy by the vest and tugs him towards himself. His captain turns around and waves before forming the sign for ‘wait’ with his hands. Impatient (worried) Zoro tugs again with a bit more force, he needed to get them out of here as soon as possible, gaze going sweeping over the area.

Bones, larger than islands, litter the entire seafloor and each began to glow eerily at the same time as the crystals. Around those bones he sees shadowy shapes taking form, similar to whales but bigger, much bigger. With each passing second more and more of them began swimming around them, filling the water with their sorrowful songs.

He watches Luffy push himself towards a skull of one those creatures and lay his hand on the ancient bones. It glows for a moment before something forms from underneath, a form that easily dwarfed the others, one of its eyes as large as the moon. It shakes the sea floor with an inquisitive humming noise and moves around them, the absolute size of it almost imperceptible. Incomprehensible. The beast, for what else he could call such a thing, forces them up and up through the currents of the water and Zoro reaches out to clutch Luffy closer to him, who watches the scene around them with open fascination.

The swordsman has a few frantic questions but pushes them aside for later when the sea shoots them up into the sky. Their lungs greedily gasping in air as they coughed and breathed. Luffy looks around before energetically waving down at their friends with an ecstatic shout while more and more of those creatures rise up from the depths and circle the sky with lazy movements of their tails. The notes of their song sounding a little bit cheerier, but he was no Brook to judge it knowledgeably.

“Luffy, what did you do,” Zoro pinches and stretches out his idiotic captain’s cheek as he growls out the statement. The captain only adjusts the straw hat over his head and laughs, the sound garbled with his cheek still stretched out. “I don’t know! I felt something poke inside my head and I just went with it.”

Zoro wants to drown him, then himself for choosing to follow this man in the first place.

“Luffy! Zoro! What happened to you guys?!”

Nami’s yell carries over quite well despite the sonorous noise all around them. At her voice Luffy shifts in his grip before shooting out his arms towards the Sunny’s mast and pulls them towards their friends.

The landing wasn’t as disastrous as previous ones, Zoro managing just barely to prevent them from slamming into the ship by using his legs and allowing them slide down onto the deck. Chopper immediately rushes over to Luffy with wide open eyes and frantic shouting.

“Shishishi, this ain’t a normal sea.”

“You think,” Sanji says flatly while staring up at the now practically black sky, cigarette unlit as his fingers fumble with the lighter.

“I didn’t sink like usual! And those guys up there are friends! Sorta.”

“What do you mean sorta? What the hell did you do Luffy?!”

During the conversation one of the creatures -leviathans- his mind supplies out of nowhere, swoops down and circles around their ship before coming to a stop near the port side railings. It opens its mouth and deposits a black crystal on the deck, letting out a high pitched cry before returning to its brethren.

Zoro goes over and squats in front of it, head tilting to the side. The surface was completely black but he could see spots of colors swirling inside it. He hears the familiar footsteps and turns to regard Robin approaching with furrowed brows and mouth a thin, thoughtful line.

Before any of them spoke he catches a glimpse of something moving in the crystal and on instinct he reacts by swinging his arm to block it. The crystal was incredibly smooth with a strange heat that warmed his fingers, as realization dawned upon him the leviathans cry out in unison above. A sound that left his ears ringing and full of pain.

His head is suddenly filled with images, flashes of memory that were unfocused and numerous, the point of view shifting and changing constantly. In the back of his mind he feels a piece clicking into place as the memories slowly gain clarity, allowing him to actually comprehend what he was seeing.

He thinks he hears someone calling his name before darkness falls over him.

~*~

Zoro dreams of quiet landscapes and calm streams. Of a mountain range in the distance that was once the bones of dragons with evergreen trees that reaches up to the clear blue skies. He looks to his side and inspects the figure sitting by him. It had a torso and ten arms that of a man’s but the lower body consisted that of a tiger’s, striped four legs and all. Zoro couldn’t make out its face, a featureless morphing mass of shadows with six large horns curving out of it. As if in prayer all of its hands were clasped together and after a few moments (years, centuries) it raises its head up.

He follows its gaze and witnesses the sky split apart with searing light, sees the color drain from the world, turning everything ashen and grey. In a panic he looks back at the figure and sees it no longer there. As the world turns darker he hears the beating of a thousand wings and turns his head towards the source. Forms, winged and divine, flow out of the hole in the sky with blinding weapons and inhuman screeches. He knows, undeniably, that these were onced called Celestials, long ago.

The earth shatters into thousand of pieces and he’s falling rapidly into the abyss, screams thundering his head.

~*~

He wakes up with a yell, head pounding and heart racing.

Hands, familiar in their texture and scent, of the sea and marrow, cradle his face immediately and words that he could not understand begin flowing around him. He closes his eye and breathes in for long moments before looking up at the pensive face of his captain. At his gaze Luffy’s face splits into a radiant smile as he runs a thumb over the scar on Zoro’s eye.

“You knocked yourself out pretty hard. When you touched that crystal all the mystery whales disappeared.”

  
“Anything else I should know?” He leans slightly into his captain’s hands, still feeling dazed and heavy. _There is a part of him sinking in the depths of the world,_ he blinks rapidly, having no idea where that thought came from and returns his attention to Luffy.

“Zoro grew horns!”

“Eh?”

As Luffy ecstatically proclaims how cool they looked as Zoro reaches up and explores his head, fingers glancing against something curved and jagged. The horns felt like they curved upwards with encircling grooves and ridges and ended with sharp edges at the top. Zoro could feel sensation from the horns and winces in pain when he accidentally presses against the base of them a little to hard. Luffy raises his hand and traces the line of Zoro’s eyebrows with a welcome, soothing pressure.

“Chopper said they’re still growing, I wonder how big they’re gonna get.”

“Why did I grow horns?” he asks wryly.

“They’re mystery horns! They look nice on you too.”

Clicking his tongue Zoro scoops up him up and hoists him in his lap, the rubber-man giggling and going along without a single protest as he latches onto him in turn. Luffy’s massaging the base of his skull with confident fingers and Zoro bites back a moan at how good it felt. Judging by Luffy’s grin he didn’t hide that noise as well as he thought.

“Robin is looking at that crystal, if anyone can figure it out it’s her. Until then you gotta make sure you don’t poke anyone’s eye out," Luffy says with a finger idling on the sharp edge of one of his horns.

“Aye captain.”

The two of them stay snuggled on in the infirmary for a while as Luffy tells him about what happened in more detail. After Zoro touched the crystal all the leviathans dived down into the sea making it turn normal with a regular surface and clear blue waters. Luffy then tried to swim in it again but this time he definitely sank, a statement that made Zoro cuff his head before tightening his arms around him.

Luffy wiggles in his vice grip, snickering as he inched his way around to drape himself across Zoro’s body, “Usopp says it probably had something to do with those giant whales! I wanna find ‘em again.”

“Only you would Luffy.”

Zoro wonders if he should be feeling more concerned over his newfound horns but in the present he finds that he doesn’t mind as much. It’s something that happened, wasting time agonizing and trying figuring out why wouldn’t do much. He’ll deal with it, one way or another.

An annoying headache was still present so he leaned back against the pillows, Luffy adjusts and rests his face against his chest with a satisfied hum. Zoro closes his eye and entwines their hands, feels a feather light kiss against his jaw.

There’s a stupid smile on his face as he falls back to sleep.

~*~

He’s walking through a city in destruction. Buildings, statues, and many other objects were being shattered apart and pulled up towards a bright hole in the sky. Violent winds whip around him yet he stays firmly grounded and simply observes the light above consume everything. He feels the island shake under him and rise, in a moment he finds himself at the edge, staring down into the vast ocean.

He was doing something, an important task that didn’t come to the forefront of his mind but he knew of it. Zoro’s looking down at his hands and realizes his fists are full of ash that burn into his skin.

The ten armed figure materializes beside him again and nods before leaping out, form blurring into an indiscernible shape. Zoro turns around and sees the same winged figures from before appear, air filling with the noise of shattering glass.

He takes the step forward and falls. Yet this time he feels no fear, only a familiar emotion that clings to him like a second skin.

~*~

When he wakes up it’s to Chopper’s face scrunched up in concentration a small distance away as he’s looking through various readings and charts. Their doctor immediately notices his state and rushes over.

“Ah, Zoro! How do you feel?”

“I’m fine,” he says while sitting up and stretches up despite Chopper’s fretting, joints and ligaments popping into place. With a satisfied hum Zoro rubs the back of his head, adjusting to the added weight of his horns. He’s wasted enough time asleep and gets up despite the squawk of protest from their doctor. He has to tilt his head back a little more but after a few seconds his body acclimates to the shift in balance.

  
“You should be in bed! Your temperature is higher than normal and those horns are still growing. I don’t even understand how!”

“Don’t worry about it Chopper, I feel fine.”

Chopper taps his hooves together before sighing in defeat. “Just take it easy for now, okay?”

Zoro nods as he clips on his swords and shucks on the green coat left near the foot of the bed. He sees his reflection in the small mirror near the door and turns his head in different angles to get a better picture. The horns are dark, almost black in colour, and grow out in a ‘V’ like shape curling with ridges and ending with sharp points. At the base right above his forehead their colors fade into an off-white and he discovers that the pain had lessened considerably when he touches them.

“Come back if you feel anything off or else I’m going to drag you here and keep you sedated.”

“Sure thing, thanks Chopper.”

He has to bend a little to avoid scraping his horns in the doorway and immediately walks towards the kitchen to grab something to drink. It’s sometime after dusk, purple and pink skyline casting the world in soft shadows. A breeze ruffles his hair, carrying the whisper of a name.  
Zoro pauses as the sensation of familiarity, displaced and forgotten, makes its way through his mind. He knows...he knows it but when he tries to put words into sound the memory turns into static.

The gallery door opens and Luffy’s head pokes out before he waves. “I thought I heard Zoro wake up! C’mon.”

An elastic arm grabs his and pulls him inside and he follows, thoughts put away for now. The atmosphere around the table is warm and cozy, the rest of the Strawhats gathered around and eating with the usual amount of antics. Usopp was having a little fork fight over the last dumpling with Franky, the shipwright’s tiny mechanical hand always looking comically out of place compared to rest of him. Sanji was fawning over Nami as he filled her cup with a twirl as their navigator spoke to Brook about something.

“Mr. Swordsman, we’re glad you’re finally awake. I feared you might’ve fallen into a coma.” Robin’s cool voice is accompanied by a graceful hand sprouting up on the table and pouring him a drink. Mumbling his thanks he settles on the bench between Luffy and Brook and plates his food.

“Aren’t his horns pretty cool?” Luffy says off-handedly as he gnawed on a choice piece of meat.

Franky calls them _Super!_ Brook states he needs more milk in his diet now. Conversation resumes after they all inspect his horns, he trades a few insults with the cook, and he finds something inside him settling in, clicking into place as he’s surrounded by them. Presence familiar and soothing.

As Luffy and Usopp make jokes about whether Luffy could permanently stretch his nose out like the sniper’s, Brook leans in closer.

“Our dear captain had to be chased away by our doctor when he wouldn’t leave your side for three nights. I’m glad you’re alright.”

“Three nights? Felt shorter.”

Beneath the table he seeks out Luffy’s hand and curls his index finger around his, the action immediately responded with by the rubber man’s hand twining his in a warm grip. Their hands stay connected through the evening as Zoro hides his smiles in his tankard.

~*~

Zoro takes over Usopp’s watch shift without the other putting up much fuss and goes to train up in the crow’s nest. He really doesn’t want to go to sleep, not for a while. In the silence with only the repetitive movements of his body he mulls over tangled up thoughts.

Those dreams were connected to the leviathans in someway and he in turn was connected to those as well. A thousand counts and he switches the weight between his hands. There was a buried memory, deep within, that resonates and makes his mind feel stuffed and heavy whenever he thinks about the ten armed figure. There are half formed images flowing in his mind, in an out and as inconsistent as the tide. All he could piece together was that he was fighting against a terrible and constant force.

At some point in the night the latch props open and a certain captain shuffles in without a word as he goes over to the pile of cushions and collapses on them with a slight noise.

Zoro finishes his set and reaches for one of the towels to wipe off the accumulated sweat. He walks over where Luffy lay, buried underneath a colorful array of pillows, his eyes open and expression thoughtful as he tracks Zoro’s approach.

“You should be sleeping," Zoro says and easily goes down to his knees when rubber arms tug him forward, adjusting his body so he’s lying next to him.

“Couldn’t without Zoro there.”

“Idiot.” Tone tinted with warmth he leans down and presses lips against the back of Luffy’s hand, the texture oddly smooth and unmarred compared to his own callous-heavy ones.

  
“Zoro’s got stuff on his mind, too.”

“I’ll tell you about them, just gotta get it straight. It’s...confusing to say the least.”

Luffy’s fingers trail across his jawline and up, pausing to gently swipe away at something below his left eye, and circles the base of his horn before skimming his hand down and placing it over Zoro’s steady beating heart.

“I’ll be here.”

His voice, that stubborn, strong willed expression conveys more than words could. A promise beneath his skin, written into their bones long ago. With a final kiss to Luffy’s forehead Zoro pushes himself back up, “I’m on watch, want me to wake you up if an island shows up?”

“If we let Zoro on the helm maybe he’ll run us into one!”

He throws the towel at his laughing captain, huffing in amusement when it hits his face dead on. Luffy whines a bit from the pile of pillows and eventually falls asleep after awhile of watching Zoro train.

~*~

Avoiding sleep for two nights wasn’t that big of a deal but on the third night of calm sailing he settles on the roof of the crow’s nest. Bottle in hand he gazes out as the salty, cool breeze pricks on his bare chest. The few, extremely short naps helped very little and Zoro finds his thoughts wandering off again, takes a sip of his drink and closes his eye.

There are shadows of old bones dancing in the back of his mind and again, and again his head is filled with static when he tries to pull at those memories.

Instead he shifts his thoughts to a certain captain. Almost a lifetime ago in a little sea on the eastern side of the world, where this whole adventure began, he remembers their first meeting. Sun scorched and dying a slow death as a foolish kid wearing a straw hat brought with him the spray of the sea and an earnest, ambitious wish.

He knows now that he wouldn’t be anywhere else. Especially so after their relationship grew and brought together in a manner most natural, on an uneventful and lazy day with their unsure hands grasped together and soft laughter shared between them as easily as breathing. With more crew members joining he had felt hesitant about showing their relationship openly and during those two long and cold years of training alone he had berated himself over that every night.

Luffy could have died at Marineford. He could have died and a thousand words and a million gestures that Zoro wished he could have done and said would never happen, only to be stored in a bottle of regret that would haunt him until the end of days. The New world is a dangerous place and he grasps onto these quiet, private moments like the desert greedily takes in rain. He wants to burn the memory of Luffy’s smiles, his warm presence, everything down to the way his hair gets blown by the sea winds, every little bit of this man he’s come to love more than his own self into himself.

Discovering how deeply he could love someone was like waking up and falling simultaneously. The revelation had made his heart beat rapidly against the cage of his ribs, constricting in its intensity. He’s not surprised when the subject of his wandering thoughts rappels his way up on the roof and sits down next to him.

“Zoro hasn’t been sleeping.”

“Weird dreams.”

Admitting it was easier, whether due to the quiet calm night hiding them away from the rest of the world, or his own nostalgic thoughts he couldn't tell.

“I’ll keep them away when we go to bed.”

Leave it to Luffy to say something as ridiculous and impossible, as if he could physically will away nightmares of his friends like he does with everything. But knowing Luffy and the way he simply changes the world because he wants to, it wouldn’t be a far stretch for him to be able to do just that.

They don’t speak for a while as Zoro nurses his bottle and watches the sky, both of them sitting shoulder to shoulder and pointing at the stars and laughing at old references. At some point he must have dozed off and had been carried back into the crow’s nest.

He wakes up from a dream that consisted of Luffy and himself, floating together in a brilliant multi-colored galaxy with hands outstretched.

~*~

Another storm hits them hard and fast and they barely held on even with Nami’s early warning. On another unknown stretch of waters they spot an island in the distance and sail towards it, the mood of the crew lifting monumentally. It was an island that was made of more mountain than anything, a small stretch of green rainforest and white sand with towering overgrown cliffs.

All of them take to exploring and gathering supplies with uncontained energy, happy to be off the boat for a little bit. He’s not the only one shaking his head in amusement when Luffy rockets himself into a random direction.

After some wandering Zoro finds himself in front of the cliffs and spots several climbing holds, with nothing better to do he ties his swords tighter and begins climbing. His horns scrape against the cliff face a few times on his way to the top, the first real annoyance brought by them. Some birds squawk loudly and try to peck him when his hands grip far too close to their nests but otherwise the climb itself is an uneventful affair.

Sitting there on the edge and admiring the horizon he’s hit with the unexplainable sensation of deja-vu. Those old and hidden memories resurface as he looks around, senses sharp as if he were in a middle of a fight. An image flashes across his mind as he stares down at the sea from his position, a large island sunk under the waves with jagged mountains made of skeletons of myths.

It was no coincidence that this was the first place from his dreams and for whatever reason he was here now. A little wary Zoro looks scans the plateau and discovers a hidden cave entrance, covered with vines and beneath the shadow of jagged rocks. He stalks in there and discovers a cavern lit by crystals that were similar to the ones Luffy had dove in for back at the mirror sea.

The crystals were all over the ceiling and created a soft blue glow, humming and changing in their brightness every so often. In the center of the room was an aged stone tablet. Most of its contents worn away with time. He traces the surface carefully and finds that they are words similar to those on poneglyphs. He couldn't understand a lick of it but someone else has the ability to.

Back outside he walks over to the edge and breathes in until his lungs feel like balloons and yells out Robin’s name. It was a small island and and a few minutes after his yell he hears the tell tale sounds of their historian’s devil fruit sprouting around him, an eye and an ear accompanied by a brief wave of a hand.

  
“You might wanna come up here. Think there's a poneglyph.”

With alacrity that was even a surprise for him he watches Robin approach the cliffs and easily climb up with her fruit powers.

“You always wander into the oddest places mister swordsman.”

She sounds pleased as she walks past him and into the cave. Shrugging he follows her in, hoping that some questions could be answered here.

“It’s written in an older language but it’s still legible.”

Robin’s eyes were narrowed in concentration as her fingers follow the carved outlines.

“What's it say about this place?”

“It appears to be poetry or a prophecy. The prose is quite colorful.”

 _‘We Dreamers lie awake, blind and deaf_  
_In forgotten depths, awaiting the dawn_  
_Bound by light, bound to death_  
_We cried for revenge, forgotten and voiceless_  
_For retribution in the endless void.’_

As she finishes reciting the words Zoro feels the same skin prickling sensation of eyes watching them. Hand on Wado’s hilt he whirls around, eye searching yet seeing nothing but the empty walls of the cavern. Turning back around he spots Robin by a section of the wall that was covered in vines, her many hands lifting away the obstruction in moments to reveal a tunnel.

“My, this is exciting.”

Their historian goes through it without hesitation and Zoro follows. The passageway is narrow, his shoulders bumping the walls along the way and at some point he had to shift sideways to squeeze through one section of the tunnel. Eventually they make their way into a larger cavern and as he inspects the area images flash in his mind once more. A sharp spike pain that made his mind hazy as he tries to comprehend what he was looking at.

Countless figures huddle in the room, cowering as the world shook around them. Voices echo in his head, fearful and desperate and so, so many. The cacophony causing him to grit his teeth until one clear voice rises above the others, a voice that yells in defiance. One that is joined by the others into a unified roar and he watches them, with their arms raised up, as a light engulfs the cave and turns everything to ash.

“Zoro are you alright?”

He comes to, a little dazed, a little sore, and shakes his head in an attempt to dispel the assault of memories.

“Yeah, just a headache.”

Robin shoots him a look with narrowed eyes and a distinct frown but doesn’t pursue the issue further.

“There are more poneglyphs in here and these ones tell a more straightforward story.”

  
The tablets encompass the walls of the entire room, obsidian and gleaming, with images as well as words etched artfully into their surfaces.

“It depicts a tale of a people from the stars…”

_As her soft voice fills the room more images sear into his mind._

“Always running from a foe…”

_A light that engulfs worlds, an end to time itself._

“Until they find a world hidden from the galaxies, safe from their enemy.”

_The planet a brilliant blue that called out like a beacon to them._

“They thrived, they collaborated with the locals. Bringing forward a golden age.”

 _Cities that shined in the sunlight and glowed during the night, with towers that reached the heavens and a people that strived towards something greater each day_.

“Yet the light found them. But they were prepared with a plan centuries in the making.”

_A device that pulled the stars towards it, a machine that could trap the light._

“It ends there. What an interesting tale.”

She traces the vast empty space on the last section of the wall, contemplative. Zoro sees the ten armed figure again in the center of the room, scooping up the ashes in each fist and stalks towards him. It stares down at him for long moments before disappearing. Zoro tastes ash and blood in his mouth.

~*~  
The Strawhats were enthralled as they listened to Robin sharing the discovery.

“People from the stars? No way that was true!”

“We met the sky people, who says there’s not more even further up?”

As the crew debates over the topic Zoro slips out quietly, stomach in knots. He breathes in the cool air, feels it drift through his lungs and held it there as he counts to ten. Exhaling he makes his way to the railings and leans on them with his elbows, watching the reflection of the crescent moon ripple over the waters.

  
It’s in the stillness of the night where he notices the presence of others drifting towards the Sunny. Immediately on alert he peers into the night and sees the distinct shadows of marine battleships heading straight at them. He opens his mouth to alert his nakama but something presses against the back of his mind, whispering a quiet memory. Zoro breathes in again and takes off his coat, shoulders tense as he leaps over the railings and into the sea below.

The cold registers for a shocking moment before it fades away as he reaches down and grips onto the leviathan waiting for him. It feels like silk, like the visual consistency of thick ink spreading across parchment. It sings quietly to him, closing the distance between the ships in a laughably short amount of time and thrusts him above the water with a powerful force.

The night is quiet, the moon glinting on his swords, a lone whale song piercing the serenity to mark the misfortune of the marines. Zoro’s head feels hazy, moving around on instinct as he dodged and slashed unsuspecting foes. As blood squelched under his shoes, thick and sticky, and drains into the sea he stops and looks around.

Two battleships in pieces that were slowly engulfed by the waters. He's on the tip of the tilting deck, remembering a thousand fights from before. He swipes the blood off his swords and sits down, fingers digging into his own face, chest heaving with stuttered gasps. He wants this over with yet has no idea of what was happening to him in the first place.

The pain in intensifies in his head, pounding against his skull with each heartbeat. He hears the sea swirl and raises his head to watch the leviathan breach the surface and release a series of notes, questioning and curious. Stars reflected in its eyes as it waited for his response.

“Do I even have a choice?”

At his words the leviathan dives back under, disappearing into the black depths.

“Zoro!”

Luffy’s shout shatters the stillness of the night. Head snapping up he watches the small form of his captain sail across the sky, shirt flapping behind him. Zoro leaps up to catch him before he falls, elastic arms wrap around his shoulders. He breathes in Luffy’s scent, gripping him tighter as they descend together.

They hit the water with a splash, bubbles cascading around them as the cold water lights up every nerve. Zoro kicks and pulls them back up, feeling the weight in his arms shift and grow heavy.

“What are you doing out here?”

“I can ask the same of Zoro. You've been hiding from us.” _From me_. He doesn't say but it's there in his eyes.

Luffy’s gaze is piercing, searching, as he breathes out heavily with his hands twisting together.

“It’s complicated, it's also confusing as hell and I don't even know where to begin.”

“Whatever it is you can tell me! You can always trust me.”

Zoro flinches at the hurt tone and treads over to some driftwood and hoists Luffy on top of it, letting himself stay in the water to keep the other steady.

“I don't know if I trust myself right now," he admits as he grips his captain’s legs, trepidation gnawing at his soul.

Hands brush against his horns, travelling down gently before cupping his face and lifting his head up. It’s that vulnerable and ingenious expression that makes his heart shatter and break all over. Filling him with a mix of emotion so potent that he has no choice other than to bow his head and let himself be supported by those hands.

“Trust yourself in me.”

Zoro does trust his captain, with his life (twice-over and more, so much more) and would gladly walk into hell with him (or for him). He is devoted fully and without regret. Yet...he cannot find the words to begin describing his ailment.

“Let’s get you out of the sea.” That’s what he ends up saying as he grips the driftwood and begins pushing them back towards the Sunny.

“Zoro…”

His captain looks like he was about to protest some but is interrupted by the waters around them surging violently. Something pulls at Zoro’s legs and he immediately lets go to prevent Luffy from going down with him.

The stupid idiot that he is, Luffy grabs onto his forearms with a force that belied his weakened state caused by the sea water. Zoro growls and kicks, each motion feeling fruitless as he gets tugged down more and more until he is completely submerged. Pain fills his head once more as vivid memories flash behind his eyes and his last thoughts are of keeping Luffy safe before darkness falls.

~*~

He was born into existence on a moonless night, unsteady and volatile, at the end of an era. He had one immutable goal and knows of nothing else.

~*~

Zoro wakes up with a frantic energy, looking around wildly until he spots Luffy’s form curled up an arms length away. Relief floods through him as he feels him breathe, heartbeat steady under his hand (he is shaking on the inside but his hands are always, ever steady). Gathering his will he looks around and realizes that they are at the bottom of the sea.

Or a place like it, as the scenery around him is frozen in time. Various ocean-life unmoving around them, water currents still and pliable by his hands. The leviathan phases into existence, carrying a tapestry of stars on it body as it circles around them before another one joins in.

“The thrall is tainted.”

“It wavers from its task.”

Numerous voices echo with each sentence and more memories tug at his mind (constantly seeking for someone like a relentless hound). He ignores the pull and leans over Luffy protectively as he tracks the movements of the leviathans.

“It must enter a new cycle, cleansed from its earthly bonds.”

They seem to shout in finality as an indescribable pain abruptly lances through his body, not unlike Kuma’s ability, but it felt like his body was being seared from the inside out. He felt like he was being pulled into a thousand different directions, blood seeping out of his mouth. Fingers dig into the ground, white-boned and desperate.

Zoro thinks he hears his name being called, faint through the haze of pain. Hands press against his chest, over his heart, a cooling point of contact that makes it easier to refocus. He gasps violently and bends over, tremors shaking his body viciously as strong arms brace him. Zoro realizes that Luffy had been yelling his throat hoarse.

“Stop it! Stop hurting him!”

“A boy with the inheritance.”

“It explains the deviance.”

The leviathans float in place, eyes staring down at them. Zoro coughs up more blood that burned his mouth and glares up, “What the fuck do you want with me?!” His words are slurred and thick with pain, indignation and anger pushing aside the near constant agony buzzing under his skin.

“You are a thrall of vengeance born from the unjust death of ten-thousand lives.”

“Bound to an endless cycle of death and life until your duty is complete.”

He reaches down to grasp Wadou’s hilt. Luffy steadies him by the shoulder when another bout of coughing took over. “That doesn't explain shit.”

“You know your purpose yet resist the calling. A mistake that must be erased and started anew.”

The leviathan floats over him, The millions of stars in their bodies shining brightly.

“What fucking-"

It was excruciating, feeling his body fall apart from every cell. He wasn't sure if he was shouting or crying. It felt like hours, days, of pain crushing his entire being and at some point he must've blacked out.

Because he wakes up on that island, soft breeze brushing against his face as the dawn rises above the vast mountain range. The ten armed figure sits across him in prayer and bows its head when it notices him, the six horns glimmering in the growing light.

Pieces fall together slowly as Zoro grasps at memories that skitter around his mind, each with a tantalizing secret to uncover. The sun rises and he sees a memory of himself standing against that intense light from before, feeling no fear, no apprehension, nothing. He had woken up afterwards, in a different place with different memories of the present clashing with the past.

“You're me, aren't you," Zoro breathes out, both a question and a statement.

The figure -the thrall- nods slightly and rises to its full height and walks past him, angling its head to indicate that he follow.

Without any other option he walks with it towards the edge of the world and gazes out at the vast blue expanse of the glittering sea. It summons swords into each hand and points one towards him. Zoro draws out each of his swords, metal humming in anticipation. They circle one another, each step measured, focus razor sharp as they waited for the first strike. Hunkering down Zoro readies himself before launching himself forward, blades clashing in a shower of sparks as the thrall parries and retaliates with six of its arms.

He pushes away and manages to block the succession of strikes, arms ringing from the force of each hit. Shifting stances he charges again, swords angled at the perpendicular and strikes at its hindquarters. His opponent doesn’t make a sound, only turning to bear down on him with every arm. Zoro feels the ground beneath him cave under the pressure, each of his muscles straining.

They stay locked that way longer than he would like but he sees a shift of its legs and seizes the momentary opportunity. He draws back his swords and dodges under the ten arms, his previous spot completely destroyed by the strike. In the second it takes the thrall to rear back Zoro has his swords slicing through its chest.

It takes a few moments before it releases its swords and slowly makes its way over to the edge of the island. It sits down, still as a statue. Zoro sheathes his swords one by one, feeling hollow at the result of the fight and asks, “You're tired of it?”

It nods. Raising one arm it opens a palm to show him with a black opal with a swirl of brights colours constantly shifting and moving within. As he studies it and feels something resonate with him with each heartbeat, the figure leaves it hovering mid air before it bows its head with finality. The moment Zoro reaches out to grab the gem his other form disintegrates and scatters away in the wind, leaving a trail of stardust in its wake.

He remembers everything.

~*~

Fingers are clutching his arm with a desperate type of strength that will leave a blossoming of bruises later on. Zoro blindly reaches out with his other arm and feels around before he wraps it around Luffy’s smaller hand that’s shaking furiously over his heart.

“Zoro.”

His captain should never sound so wrecked, voice dripping raw with dark emotion. He tightens his grip and lets go when Luffy flings himself around him, shuddering with tears.

“You’re a stupid idiot.”

“Sorry Luffy.”

He pushes them both upright, guilt spiking through him at Luffy’s state. He would rather cut out his own heart before he sees that expression ever again (and isn’t that the cruel irony that they were the only ones who could hurt each other in this way).

Zoro presses his forehead against his and breathes in, the other immediately syncing up his breathing with his.

“Your heart stopped for so long Zoro. Please don’t-”

Arms constrict around him and his only reply is to hug him back.

“I won’t. Made you a promise.”

Whale song fills the air around them before the numerous voices spoke again, “You would abandon your purpose for a single life?”

“You want revenge against the Celestials, I’m pretty sure we’re gonna be visiting them at some point.” Zoro says coldly. Because that is his purpose, for countless years that goal, that wish for vengeance born from a thousand voices was his only drive.

_Yet something started to change in him along the way through the eons. A spark of change._

A sort of humming fills the pause as the leviathans contemplate his response.

“Kill the last descendants so we can finally be free. But know this thrall, without further purpose you will fade away into oblivion.”

Before he could reply time resumes and they are transported to the beach of the same island, the Thousand Sunny floating a distance away.

He is thrown backwards into the sand as Luffy lands on top of him, one hand placed firmly over his heart.

“Zoro keeps his promises.”

His breath is stolen away by the kiss, a demanding press of lips that claim him entirely and without mercy. He lays his hand over Luffy’s heart and kisses back, pressing a million promises and lays himself bare.

“Always, always.” He whispers.

_I am yours._

~*~

Some time later, after fights that shake the world and near the end of the Grand Line where the Strawhats and their allies face off against the highest powers Zoro digs in his swords into the last remaining Celestial and feels something tight release inside him.

Crowds cry out and point at the ocean as hundreds of massive abyssal whales breach through the surface and swim into the air, singing a song that seems to reverberate through the entire world.

Day turns to night as the sky fills with an overwhelming tapestry of moving galaxies and the largest of the leviathans dives around the Strawhats and pauses before Zoro.

“You are outside the circle of life and death thrall, an existence that cannot be. But you can bind yourself to another until the end of time, until there are no more stars in the universe. Consider these last words of knowledge our gratitude.”

It resumes its ascent into the sky with a victorious cry and they watch as each leviathan dissipates into a burst of starlight, scattering into the heavens and leaving a permanent constellation in their wake.

When the newly crowned Pirate King yells out the orders to set sail he looks back expectantly at him with a sharp grin and an open, outstretched palm.

Zoro knows down deep into his soul that he would gladly spend the rest of eternity by his side.

_Stay with me?_

_Until the end of forever._

**Author's Note:**

> Found this fic while cleaning out an old, old hard drive and decided to post it up on a whim after some editing. 
> 
> Thank you for reading! I love these two idiots so much and would love ramble more about them.


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